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A Centre for Baltic Culture and Studies (CBCS) was officially inaugurated at Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya in Haridwar this Sunday, 7th of August.

The inauguration ceremony was held at the University campus in Haridwar, with Dr. Krishna Kant Paul, Hon’ble Governor of Uttarakhand, as its Chief Guest and the Ambassadors of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia as the Guests of Honor.

“Lithuanian language is currently studied at 47 academic centers across the world. And today we are adding one more member to this distinguished family and the first of its kind in South and South East Asia. Lithuania ke liye āj bahut bahut baḍa din hai,” said Lithuanian ambassador H.E. Laimonas Talat-Kelpša at the opening ceremony.

He also noted the close proximity between Lithuanian and Sanskrit, as Lithuanian is considered the closest surviving sister to Sanskrit among Indo-European languages. Many words used by present-day Lithuanians are easily recognizable even to modern Hindi speakers, for example: dievas – dev (god), ugnis – agni (fire), vėjas – vayu (wind), sapnas – sapnā (dream), šaka – śākhā (branch), ratai – rath (chariot) and many other.

The Ambassador presented a gift to the library of the newly established CBCS – a small Lithuanian-Sanskrit dictionary containing 108 identical words in both languages. The dictionary has been jointly produced by Lithuanian Language Institute in Vilnius, Lithuania, and Lithuanian Embassy in New Delhi.

The CBCS will pursue two major research areas, said Pro-Vice Chancellor of Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya Dr. Chinmay Pandya. One will be the instruction of three Baltic languages, Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonia, and the other will focus on the research of the ancient Baltic traditions and culture.

The CBCS also expects active support and cooperation from the Baltic States’ Governments, said Dr. Pandya.

The Centre for Baltic Culture and Studies will occupy a separate building at the university campus, containing head office, three study rooms and a library. Professor Sigma Ankrava from the University of Latvia will be its first chairperson.

Lithuanian Government actively supports and promotes Lithuanian language studies abroad. Thus, eight research projects, jointly run by Lithuanian and foreign universities, are currently sponsored by Lithuania, total value of which is 40 lakh rupees. Also, 13 Lithuanian language instructors have been dispatched to 9 foreign countries, their residence cost being covered by Lithuanian tax-payers.